The famous car manufacturer had to apologise for having airbrushed an iconic statue of Jesus Christ from one of its promo adverts.

Celebrating 60 years of its legendary 911 model, Porsche has prepared a promotional video. The advert, which shows vintage and newer models of the company’s iconic car cruising through the mountains, drew attention after eagle-eyed viewers spotted that a massive statue of Jesus Christ was removed, and only the 75ft concrete plinth – on which the statue stands – was visible.

The iconic, 28-metre tall Cristo Rei (Christ the King) statue – which was inspired by Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer – overlooks the capital of Lisbon. It was erected by locals after WWI, out of gratitude that their country has been spared from the military conflict.

The statue, however, was removed from Porsche’s ad, at least for the first time.

Hey, @Porsche , why did you erase the statue of Jesus Christ from your video filmed in Lisbon? pic.twitter.com/VxcfUBrN8D

— Alex B. (@maisumcarneiro) August 5, 2023

The airbrushing of the iconic Jesus statue from the promotional video has caused a huge outcry, with many criticising the car manufacturer for having jumped on the liberal band wagon in trying to erase religions.

Eventually, the German car manufacturer apologised, calling it a „mistake.” In a statement to MailOnline, a spokeswoman said tonight: „In a previously-uploaded version of the 911 S/T launch film, a landmark was removed. This was a mistake, and we apologise for any offence caused. The original film is online now.”

Although Porsche has corrected its „mistake,” we have seen countless examples of manufacturers trying to remove traces of Christianity from their products or ads, for example.

In 2017, there was a huge outcry when Lidl regularly airbrushed, or removed the cross from the Eridanous products in its stores. The products feature the famous Orthodox church on the island of Santorini which, in reality, of course, also has a cross on it – one that Lidl has decided to remove.

As muslims must not be offended @lidl has decided to delete crosses in Santorini for their Eridanous products#BoicottLidl pic.twitter.com/iDZ94XpXKl

— Hispano ن (@Niccomalc) September 4, 2017

But Easter eggs have also fallen victim to cancel culture in a similar fashion when Swedish grocery chain ICA began selling Easter eggs as „eggs in carts” in its stores.

Påsken finns inte, har alltid hetat bildägg ju! pic.twitter.com/npmDKl7fJJ

— Jonas (@JPcph12) April 5, 2022